


Because grace isn't logical

by bertie



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-01
Updated: 2014-06-01
Packaged: 2018-01-27 20:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1722305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertie/pseuds/bertie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky has been the best sniper for nearly a century and yet he can't make himself take the shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because grace isn't logical

**Author's Note:**

> fill for [this](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/19023.html?thread=43787087#t43787087) avengers kink meme prompt: Bucky must shoot their target through Steve

The mission wasn’t supposed to go like this.

Steve wasn’t supposed to engage their target and Bucky wasn’t supposed to hesitate in taking his shot.

He had arrived on Steve’s doorstep nearly one year ago, as put-together as he could muster with a poorly healed dislocated shoulder and out-of-order memories. But with Steve’s support and the help of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. he could heal and sort through the mess in his head. When he snuck away to follow Steve on a mission, hid himself on a rooftop with a gun to pick off enemies before they got near Steve or Natasha, Fury decided he could be trusted in the field.

As it was, Steve was wrestling the remaining HYDRA agent and Bucky couldn’t believe his hands were shaking.

“Take the shot!” Steve screamed, grunting under the assault of reckless punches.

He aimed just as Steve rolled into his line and he pulled back. Every second ticking past without a bullet in that man’s body meant the possibility of him getting away. Bucky steeled himself and took aim again.

“Bucky, shoot!” Steve was pinning the agent to the ground but losing his grip every time he thrashed underneath him. “Do it now!”

The sound of the gunshot and Steve’s cry would haunt Bucky’s dreams for weeks.

He hooked his gun over his back and threw himself over the edge of the building. There was only determination as he hopped over cars and debris to get to Steve. He immediately checked for Steve’s pulse before hauling him a safe distance from the HYDRA agent. He put two more bullets in him for good measure and hurried back to Steve.

“Bucky, ’m okay,” he drawled, holding onto Bucky’s shoulder.

“Damn it, Steve, I shot you.” Bucky cursed and unbuckled his jacket, ripping off his t-shirt.

Steve groaned when Bucky pressed the shirt to the wound, fingers curling into the hair at the nape of Bucky’s neck.

“Hush, I’ve got you,” he whispered, forcing the tears away.

“Gettin’ soft on me,” Steve said, actually god damn smiling.

Bucky scowled. “Fuck you.”

Steve just kept smiling and Bucky wanted to hit him.

»»

“He hasn’t left your side since they dug the bullet out.”

Bucky stirred. He could feel the tension in his back and shoulders from leaning over onto the edge of Steve’s hospital bed but didn’t pick his head up.

“It’s been a long time since he’s seen me injured. I’m sure he was upset,” he heard Steve say, and he felt long fingers card through his hair.

“Oh, Steve, you’re smitten.” Bucky thought that sounded like Natasha, but the way Steve was scratching at his scalp was putting him back to sleep.

“Can you blame me?”

»»

Bucky watched nervously as Steve moved around their apartment in the Stark Tower. He was almost completely healed, but still had to be cautious.

“You want something to drink?” Steve asked.

“Let me get it.” He jumped up from the couch and reached for Steve’s glass.

He moved it out of the way. “I can do it, Buck. I’m not made of glass.”

It made Bucky angry at how quickly tears collected on his lashes. “Let me.”

Steve pressed the glass into his hand, but didn’t let him move away immediately. “I don’t blame you, Bucky. You did what you had to do, and that’s what matters. You were brave.”

Bucky shook his head vigorously. “That wasn’t brave.”

He turned away before Steve could say anything more and maybe left a few dents in the handle of the refrigerator.

»»

“Bucky,” Steve said, and he knew that tone. He wasn’t happy.

He put his book down and looked up. Steve was shirtless and visibly upset.

“Come here.” Before he could say anything Steve held out his hand to him expectantly.

Bucky took it and kept quiet as Steve dragged him into his bedroom. He pushed Bucky down onto the bed and sat across from him.

“Look at me.” Bucky did. “You gave me this scar when I was seven and you were eight. We had somehow scrounged up enough coins for a pack of baseball cards and we were sorting through them when I took the Babe Ruth card. You pushed me a little too hard to get it and I fell and scraped my elbows on the ground. You were so upset that you took me home, washed me up, and gave me all of the baseball cards. I wouldn’t let you, of course, but you hated that you hurt me.”

Bucky touched the scar on Steve’s elbow, rubbing his thumb over it.

Steve turned around and pointed to a scar on the soft muscle over his ribs.

“You gave me this scar in Italy a few days after I freed over a hundred men from HYDRA. We were on a mission in the woods and you shoved me up against a rock in your haste to—umm,” Steve cleared his throat, and Bucky smiled, “blow me. You were excited to be alive and have me back. The rock was sharp and it cut through my t-shirt. I may be nearly invincible but that doesn’t mean I have thick skin.”

He smoothed his fingers over the thin line and before he knew what he was doing, leaned forward and kissed it. Steve didn’t object, but Bucky could see a blush start on the back of his neck. He found another scar and kissed it.

Another scar; another kiss.

Until his lips were sore and Steve was breathing heavily, his shoulders entirely pink.

“Lay down,” Bucky murmured, nudging Steve down onto his back.

He was so gentle as he smoothed his thumb just above Steve’s newest scar. Steve’s breath caught and Bucky smiled. He brushed his lips over the puckered skin above Steve’s hip, leaving a firm kiss beside it.

That night neither of them slept for very long, and Bucky was delighted to find that Steve still blushed with his entire body.


End file.
